Lapidary
by jeanne.summers
Summary: Set in the Infinite Loops Winx Club Universe by Firehawk242. Diaspro has begun Looping, but somehow managed to miss every other looper for almost 100 loops. It takes a toll on her mental health, before things get... weirder, then better.
1. Chapter 1

Inspired by the ' **Infinite Loops Winx Club** ' by **FireHawk242,** as a fanfic of a fanfic, you should probably read that first – this story assumes knowledge of Infinite Loops universe  
And a joke I made in a review which turned into a plot bunny and harassed me until this mess happened.

 **TRIGGER WARNING:** from chapter 2 onwards they will be occasional mentions of **Suicide, Mental Institutions, Institutionalisation, on screen murder,** (Temporary Main Character Death) and a few mental health issues

And for those of you wondering about the Zuko Potter series... #looks at 'Zuko and the Secretive Basement'# I don't want to talk about it. (T.T)

 **Lapidary –  
** Adjective: relating to the engraving cutting, or polishing of stones or gems.  
Noun: one who engraves, cuts, or polishes gems.

* * *

 **Somewhere around Loop 95**

Diaspro was in hell.

She didn't know what she'd done to deserve it, but she was in hell. Forced to live several years of her life over and over again, watching as her fiancé was stolen time and again by the same girl.

No matter what she tried, no matter what she did, she just couldn't win.

It wasn't fair, why couldn't she be happy? Didn't she deserve to be happy? Didn't she have the right to once, just once, get her happy ending with the boy she'd loved her whole life?

Diaspro pulled her sheets up over her head, and pulled her pillow to her face, crying silently into the soft surface.

Maybe this time she could just not deal with it.

* * *

 **Soon After Loop 100**  
The 'Enlightenment Loop'

Diaspro had a plan.

It wasn't much of a plan, but it was all she had.

Double checking her luggage she smiled. This time she'd cut the romance off before it could even start.

She ended up sharing a room with one of the seniors, who was too busy with study to pay Diaspro much attention. She'd managed to 'bump into' the Winx Club on her way to her first class. Now to mark her territory.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there, are you alright?" Diaspro surprised herself with how concerned she sounded for Bloom, as the red-headed fiancé stealer picked herself off the floor.

"I'm fine, I haven't seen you around these last two weeks..."

"I just transferred in, sort of a last minute thing." The Flower Fairy, Flora, was giving her an odd look. Diaspro ignored it and introduced herself. "I'm Princess Diaspro of Eraklyon."

"I'm Bloom, of Earth, and these are my friends," Diaspro did her best to feign interest, like she didn't want to wrap her hands around Bloom throat and squeeze.

"So Diaspro," Flora asked when Bloom finished, "what brings you to Alfea?"

"Well, I'm sort of the future queen of Eraklyon, so I thought, what better way to serve my people than to become the best Guardian Fairy I can be, you know, and Alfea is _the_ place to go to learn to be a Guardian Fairy."

"Wait, future queen?" Stella asked, face crinkled in confusion, "I thought prince Sky was next in line for the throne."

Diaspro chuckled and ducked her head, a calculated gesture of shyness.

"He is, I'm from one of the other noble families on Eraklyon, prince Sky is my fiancé, we've been engaged for years." Diaspro kept her smile sweet as she waited for the fallout. Flora's eyes narrowed dangerously, but she said nothing.

Stella spluttered angrily, Bloom frowned, her face marred by worry for her friend.

The bell for classes tolled before anyone could say anything further.

The six girls hurried to class, but the Winx spent the entire day whispering angrily amongst themselves.

* * *

After classes Diaspro found them huddled together, talking.

"Maybe Diaspro was lying, you don't think it's weird," Musa was asking as Diaspro stopped around the corner to listen, "new girl shows up two weeks into term and she's engaged to your boyfriend? Please, tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this is weird."

"I just don't believe it, Sky doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would flirt when he's engaged, and he has been sending very clear flirting signals," Stella said with heavy denial.

Diaspro readied herself and stepped around the corner.

"So call him," the group turned to her so fast she was surprised they didn't hurt themselves. "Sorry for eaves dropping, I came to apologise, I got the feeling I'd upset you somehow before class, and well... we're going to be sharing the same school for the next few years, I didn't want to make enemies on my first day, so I came to clear the air.

"But if that's what's going on, if my fiancé is cheating on me, I think I'd like to know as much as you do. So call him, we'll get this sorted out."

Flora frowned deeply, but nodded in agreement.

"She's right, it's best to get everything out in the open, miscommunication can be very dangerous, no point letting your doubts fester."

With a hmph, Stella whipped out her phone, the holo display showing Brandon's face.

"Why-" Diaspro cut herself off, waiting for them to ask.

"Why what?" Stella asked waspishly.

"Sorry, I just wanted to know why you were calling Brandon, I think it would be better to talk to Sky directly."

Stella, and most of the Winx Club, gave her a 'what?' look.

"This is Sky," Stella indicated with a nod to the picture of Brandon.

"Nooo, that's Sky's squire, Brandon. Sky's blonde," Diaspro pulled out a picture of the actual Sky, and showed them.

"That's Brandon," Bloom exclaimed, a blush covering her cheeks.

"No, again, this is Sky," Diaspro pointed to her picture, then to the picture on Stella's phone, "that's Brandon."

"Call him," Techna said suddenly, "it might be that Diaspro is lying, but at this point the only thing we can do is ask the boys directly."

"Or, you could, you know, look it up on line. There's been a few articles on Eraklyon's new trade agreements, which Sky attended, not to mention Teen Fairy covered my engagement party."

Flora smacked a hand against her forehead, the unexpected slap startling everyone.

"Sorry," the Flower Fairy apologised, "I just feel like I should have thought of that earlier. But you might suspect hacking or something, so just, call your boyfriend Stella, let's get this mess cleared up."

"Fine," Stella pouted and began the call, she put the phone on speaker before anyone could pick up.

" _Hey Stella!_ "

"Hey Sky."

" _Is everything alright? You sound a bit down._ "

"So... you'd tell me if you were... engaged right?"

" _..._ " The strangled gasp and silence on the other end were very telling.

"Or if you weren't who you sai-aid," Stella started crying.

" _Babe? Oh man, okay Stell' I'm gonna come over, alright, I'm going to be right over, just wait for me, everything is going to be okay._ "

Diaspro watched in mute horror as Stella collapsed to the ground, muttering 'it's true' over and over under her sobs. Diaspro had wanted to hurt Bloom, to stop her from stealing Sky, she'd completely forgotten about how Stella and Brandon were involved.

Her heart ached in sympathy, she knew what Stella was feeling right now, how the lies came tumbling as her image of the world crumbled.

She took half a step forward, reaching for Stella, but Flora stepped in between Diaspro and the Winx.

"I think you've done enough, Princess Diaspro." Flora looked at her with such poison, Diaspro flinch, tears gathering in her own eyes.

"Flora don't," Bloom called from where she was wrapped around Stella, "even if Stella wasn't dating her fiancé, the boy we thought was Brandon asked me out two days ago. Diaspro's fiancé has been cheating on her, and he's been lying about who he is, both of those boys have. Diaspro isn't a villain here, she's as much a victim as Stella and I are."

Diaspro looked at Bloom as if she'd never seen her before. How could Bloom say that after all they'd been through?

'Oh right, she hasn't been through it.' Diaspro's resolve wavered, and she ran.

* * *

Diaspro was on her way to the Winx' dorm when she heard Brandon and Sky talking as they walked through the corridor, with a quick twist of magic, Diaspro was hidden from sight. Silently she followed them to the dorm, slipping in after them as Musa held open the door.

The chairs had been arranged so the two boys would be sitting, facing the five girls. Flora's eyes seemed to catch on Diaspro's invisible form as the princess made her way to lean against one of the walls.

She wanted to know what the boys had to say, but Diaspro wasn't ready to interact with the girls again.

So she leaned against the wall and listened, listened as they explained why they'd switched identities, listened as they explained why they'd made overtures towards the two Winx girls.

Brandon wasn't in a relationship, and he'd hoped Stella would like him regardless of what is rank or name was, he acknowledged that he should have been more honest, acknowledged that he'd been in the wrong, and told Stella that he did care for her, and would wait for her to decide what would happen, where they'd go from there.

Sky explained that his engagement was political, that he'd never been in love with Diaspro, couldn't ever imagine being in love with Diaspro.

And oh didn't that hurt, like every time she'd seen him choose Bloom, like every time she'd lost, over and over again but all at once. She pressed her hand to her mouth to stifle the sobs, and slid down the wall as her legs gave way.

She didn't even hear Bloom as she ranted at Sky for what he'd done, that just because he hadn't loved Diaspro, didn't mean he wasn't still engaged, and what had he thought was going to happen, that he could just date Bloom on the side for the rest of his life, that Bloom would be willing to be a home wrecker, a side girl, a booty call.

What had he thought was going to happen?

Sky had nothing left to say, guilty silence filling the air.

"I think both of you need to leave," Stella said with a terrifying calm, "now."

The boys left.

Diaspro felt a hand on her shoulder, looking up she saw the pity filled eyes of Flora. Without a word Diaspro let her invisibility drop.

"I love him," she managed to say through her tears, "I've loved him since I was five, I was so happy when we got engaged, it was the happiest day of my life. I just wanted to be with him, beside him, for him to love me as much as I love him."

Bloom sat down beside her, as Flora sat down on the other.

"It's never going to be me is it? He's never going to pick me. Whycan'titbeme!?"

* * *

It took three days for Diaspro to stop crying, which, her being the Fairy of Gemlight, got a little awkward when her magic started turning her tears to crystal as they fell from her eyes. More than once, one of the other fairies had stepped on a crystal while barefoot.

Techna had jerry-rigged a little robot to sweep up the tears, which now sat in several large jars by the walls, the Winx unsure what to do with them.

* * *

Sitting in front of Stella's vanity, Diaspro gave her reflection serious consideration. With deliberate motions she applied her make up and untangled her hair

"I am princess Diaspro of the house of Isis of Eraklyon, I am the fairy of Gemlight, and I deserve to be happy." She told her reflection, she stopped to take a steadying breath before forging on. "Prince Sky doesn't love me, and-and that's okay, becau-because I will find my own happiness. I will be okay. I will be okay. Iwill beokay. I will beokay. Iwillbeokay."

She shut hers eyes tight against the new tears that threatened to fall, repeating her mantra over and over until someone knocked at the door.

Bloom poked her head in.

"Hey, you almost ready?"

Diaspro inspected her make up for tear marks, there were none.

'I am going to be okay... one day.'

"Yeah, I think I am." On shaky legs Diaspro made her way out the door to Join the Winx Club for some retail therapy.

* * *

In the Winx Club's dorm room the six fairies sat around, half of them eating pizza as they celebrated the defeat of the Trix and the Army of Decay. Diaspro smacked her hand over her mouth, trying not to spit out her food, as Flora's prompted her to laugh.

Beside her, Bloom let out an 'Urgh!' as she snorted soda out her nose. Stella laughed harder and handed Bloom a napkin, Musa started choking on her pizza, and only Techna and Flora managed to escape relatively unscathed.

Over the weeks and months she'd spent with the Winx Club, Diaspro had learned a horrifying fact: she liked them, they were likeable. When not fighting over Sky, Bloom and Diaspro got along very well. Stella and Diaspro spent time swapping 'princess tips' and chatting fashion, while Musa was her go to girl for theatre performance companions.

Techna was a little awkward, not very good at expressing her feelings, and tending towards blunt, but Diaspro was discovering she didn't mind.

Then there was Flora, who looked at her with curiosity, who sometimes seemed to know more than she should, who went to say things to her only to stop and shake her head, occasionally with a 'never mind,' or 'later.'

The door opened and all attention turned to the new comer, Mirta waved hello, an awkward look on her face, before she brought in four new boxes of pizza.

"I found the missing pizzas, Amaryl's group had them..."

"Yay!" Stella let out an excited whoop, diving for her pizza, Diaspro cleared a space beside herself and beckoned that harried ex-witch over.

"How are you feeling?" Diaspro asked, Mirta looked pale, but that wasn't anything new.

"Tired, worn out... Lucy said she never wants to see me again, that our friendship is over and I'm a disgrace to witches everywhere."

With a sympathetic sigh, Diaspro looped an arm around the girl's shoulders.

"You followed your heart, you did the right thing even though it was very hard. She may just be angry right now, if you leave it for a while and try talking to her again later, she might feel differently. But if she doesn't, you have to examine the situation and decide if its worth it to spend your life chasing her, if it will mean chasing misery that will not end. There are people around you who care about you, and want to see you happy.

"I know she's been part of your life for a long time, but sometimes the things we love aren't good for us, we have to be strong enough to see the truth when they are."

Like with her and Sky, because he was hurting her, no matter how much she loved him, might always love, but she was learning, finally learning to let go, to actually focus on herself, rather than what she thought she wanted.

The realisation she was at last making the first steps to moving on sank into her, warming her from the inside out. It felt like the first time she'd transformed, the tingle of magic flowing through her.

"Diaspro!" Her eyes flew open, she hadn't even realised she'd closed them, following everyone's gaze, she looked down, a wire and jewel amulet sat on her chest, the bottom line dipped upwards, sitting just right that, when she was transformed, it would have crowned her chest jewel.

"A Charmix," Flora said in awe. The Charmix disappeared, Diaspro smiled, then frowned, turning to Mirta.

"I'm so sorry, I just stole your emotion turmoil spotlight, I was just... I was thinking bout the similarities between my relation ship with Sky and your relationship with Lucy, and how I've finally started to move on, because I don't deserve to spend the rest of my life chasing misery."

"No, it's fine, congratulations! And you're right, I do have people who care about me, but I need to know for sure, whether I've lost Lucy for good, before I give up on her."

* * *

Next Time On Infinite Loops: Lapidary:

That one time Diaspro had a mental breakdown, or... was it that other time she had a breakdown...?


	2. Chapter 2

So I had a back and forth with lord Martiya about this, Apparently I caused some confusion concerning the Brandon/Sky thing and I wanted to clear it up:

I was aware of the Yoshinoya Kidnapping Thing, but I started watching Winx in the 4kids dub way back, I did a rewatch last year – and a few hours ago, looking for this line in the cartoon and it is one line presented as a 'throw away line' so I never really paid attention to it during my first rewatch – I was under the impression the 'Switch because of Kidnapping Threats' thing was comic exclusive.

I now know this is wrong, but as I discussed with lord Martiya: Even if Diaspro was let in on that fact Brandon and Sky switched, by the time she's reached the 'enlightenment loop' she's had a period of extreme crazy, and she's reached the point where "Bloom thinks its okay to move in on Sky, because she thinks he's a single peasant, well I'll just rip that delusion away from her!" is logical to her, and she knows the secret gets blown in a few weeks anyway, so Diaspro feels she has nothing to lose by spilling it to the girls.

(Also considering the switch was taking place at warrior boarding school, and Diaspro wasn't likely to interact with the boys publicly during their time their, she may not have been told. Neither Diaspro nor the King acted like there was reason to keep the secret in public.)

 **TRIGGER WARNINGS NOW IN EFFECT. (** This story gets angsty before it gets better **)**

* * *

 **Somewhere around Loop 60**

Diaspro stared dejectedly from her balcony, hundreds of metres below her, invisible in the dark of the night, was a courtyard. It had been the same courtyard where her engagement party had been held only last year. (Hundreds of years ago now)

Now it was a bitter reminder that she had been happy, so happy. A happiness she would never have again.

Earlier that day (just like dozens of times before) Sky had called off their engagement, for Bloom, his 'true love.'

Diaspro scowled at the ground below, a dark, dark thought creeping into her head. Of all the ways she'd tried to end this accursed time loop, there was something she'd never attempted.

Disregarding the way it tore her satin night gown, ignoring the cold bite of wind that tugged at her skin with out her robe, Diaspro pulled herself onto the balcony's edge. Her vision swam at the sight of the dark void below her, the knowledge of what she planned weighing down on her. But she really couldn't do this again.

With a heavy sigh Diaspro let herself fall forwards.

Tumbling through the air, wind rushing past her ears, she fought the urge to transform and fly to safety.

* * *

Stella and an unusually morose Brandon, sat cuddled on the couch of the Winx Club's dorm room, most of the other girls, plus Roxy and Timmy, sat scattered about the room. It was a full cast loop, and the group had decided to take it easy, with the Trix off doing their own thing. A quiet beeping broke the laziness that seemed to hang over everyone.

"Sorry Stell' I've got to go." Brandon extracted himself from Stella's grasp.

"What, why?"

"If I don't leave now I'm not going to make it to the funeral in time."

Everyone looked at him sharply.

"What funeral?" Flora asked. Brandon frowned.

"Didn't Sky tell you? He said he was going to."

"Tell us what?" Stella tugged at his hand.

"Uhhh, awkward. Diapsro, they found her body in the courtyard below her balcony four days ago, the investigation team seemed to think it was... suicide."

"Four days ago? As in, the day after Sky broke up with her for Bloom, four days ago?" Aisha asked incredulously.

Brandon winced, and nodded.

"That seems highly out of character for Diaspro," Tecna spoke up, "in all the loops we've experienced, I can't recall her ever taking her own life."

None of them could.

"Should... should we go to the funeral, do you think?" Roxy looked around the room. Stella shook her head.

"No, I don't think her family would appreciate it, they might blame us for what happened, if she killed herself because Sky broke up with her. Seriously who does that?!"

"Stella," the sun fairies eyes snapped to Flora, "we don't know that's why she killed herself. If that's what happened."

"Yeah... maybe..."

"Should we at least send flowers or something?" Musa asked.

"That might be a good idea," Aisha agreed, "a card maybe, with our condolences? Just, nothing over the top."

Flora nodded silently and summoned a bouquet of flowers, which she handed to Brandon.

"Give her family our condolences."

"I will." It was a solemn room that Brandon left behind.

"I can't believe Sky didn't say anything," Timmy broke the silence a few minutes later.

"I can't believe some one as strong headed as Diaspro would do that," Stella replied.

"Oh no," everyone looked to Aisha, "who's going to tell Bloom?"

"Where is she any way?" Musa asked.

"I don't know," Tecna admitted, "but she did leave an hour ago."

* * *

Bloom returned as the sun was setting, humming as she entered the room. She stopped short at the morose atmosphere.

"What happened?"

The six fairies and Timmy shared a dark look, Stella stood up with a deep breath.

"Diaspro's dead, she committed suicide a few days ago, they found her the day after... fight, after Sky called off the engagement. Her funeral was today, we only found out when Brandon had to leave."

Bloom looked at her friends, disbelief showing on her face.

"Diaspro – bitchy, super rage, 'you stole my fiancé' Diaspro – killed herself?"

"Yes."

"Yeah right, that's a terrible joke Stella, you really shouldn't kid around about suicide. Diaspro might do some crazy things in response to Sky dumping her, but kill herself? Please."

"It's true Bloom," Flora defended, "it's possible that this loop's version of Diaspro is the kind of person who would. Because she did, she threw herself from her own balcony."

"Well then... you're wrong about her funeral being today."

"What makes you say that?Musa asked.

"Because if Disapro's funeral was today, Sky would have been there. But he spent the day with me, you know, on that all day picnic he invited me on two days ago?"

"Bloom..." Tecna looked vaguely sick as she handed Bloom her palm top, a news article covering Diaspro's funeral on display.

"I feel sick."

* * *

Bloom and Stella reappeared in the dorm room, the others instantly by their sides, Stella holding herself up with her staff, Bloom was on her hands and knees dry retching into the carpet.

"Bloom, honey what's wrong?"

"I don't like this loop, I don't I don't I don't. Oh god I hope this isn't the version of Sky that starts looping!"

"What?"

"He's a fricking sociopath!" Stella shrieked, "we went to ask him about the funeral and he was just..."

"He didn't care, he started sweet talking my in FRONT OF DIASPRO'S PARENTS!"

* * *

"GIRLS!" Tecna's voice made everyone's heads turn as she sprinted into the dining hall.

"Miss Tecna please!" Griselda grumbled, but Tecna ignored her.

"It's Eraklyon!" Tecna pushed several plates aside to put her palm top down, a holo-display popping up, "Timmy just sent it too me."

The display began playing a news article about the Civil War on Eraklyon. Word had gotten around about Sky's infidelity and his behaviour on the day of Diaspro's funeral, suspicion had arisen concerning the events leading to Diaspro's 'suicide,' which was now being called into question.

Anecdotes about Sky's concerning behaviour, and how it had been hushed up by the royal family, had been leaked.

In the week since Diaspro's funeral, the arguments in court had devolved into actual fighting until, at last war had been declared between the royal family and the rest of nobles of Eraklyon.

* * *

Next time: more stuff happens!


	3. Chapter 3

**Soon After Loop 100**  
The 'Enlightenment Loop'

* * *

Diaspro sighed as she stared at the photos that she'd collected over the past few years. The calender was running out, if she hadn't broken the curse that made time repeat itself, she had mere moments before she'd wake up several years in the past.

She should be with the girls, with her friends, but she just couldn't.

Diaspro curled up on her bed with her albums, and did her best to burn the pictures into her brain, to hold off the loneliness.

* * *

Flora had done a last minute check of her things, making sure she had everything she wanted in her Pocket. She had, in fact done the last minute check several times in the last hour, now she sat with a magazine she wasn't reading, fidgeting on a sofa.

Bloom looked over from where she was grabbing a juice from the fridge.

"You've been staring at that page for a while now, is everything alright?"

Flora looked up, startled. "I have the worst feeling that I'm forgetting something important," she confessed. "I know there was something I had to do, something I was putting off maybe? I just know it was important."

The group looked at each other, trying to figure out what their friend had forgotten.

"I can't think of anything you said you wanted to do," Tecna said from her computer chair. The other girls made agreeing noises.

"Do you want me to call Diaspro, you-"

"DIASPRO! I haven't asked her about the Loops!" Flora dashed out of the room, racing for Diaspro before the reset. Flora had meant to approach Diaspro about the Loops, but it never seemed like a good time or Flora just hadn't been thinking of it. It's not like she was one hundred percent certain Diaspro was Looping, but their had been a few instances...

Flora cursed as Bloom introduced herself as Veranda of Callisto, gaining a strange look from both her and Stella.

'I really hope she wasn't Awake.'

* * *

 **The one After the Loop of Enlightenment  
Fused Loop – The Hobbit**

* * *

Diaspro found herself standing in front of a green, circular door. Beside her a man with golden hair and a beard knocked.

The door was opened by a slightly smaller man with bare, and hairy feet, who did a second take at the sight of her.

The man beside her was dipping into a bow saying "Fili-" and giving her a strange look, like he was waiting for her to do something.

"Feeling a bit loopy dear," the man in the doorway asked.

"I am NOT crazy," Diaspro almost shrieked in outrage. And alright, so she may have spent the equivalent of a century in a variety of sanatoriums after that – one – incident, but she was not crazy. Just, very lost, and a bit confused.

"Ah, new to the loops then, you two had better come in, I'll get you a nice cup of tea, dear." The man waved them in, Diaspro stumbled as she stepped forwards, looking down at herself she realised her clothing, even her body was different. Her breathing became very erratic.

"It's alright, everything is going to be alright, just leave your things by the door. That's it, now why don't we start with your name?"

* * *

"Sub-space pocket?"

"Yes, all loopers get one, you just sort of:" Bilbo reached into his pocket and pulled out a book. Diaspro copied him, not expecting anything, but just trying to get feel for how it worked.

Both she and Bilbo looked at the card in her hand.

"What's an MLE?" Diaspro tilted the card back and forth, unsure if she'd read it right.

"Malicious Loop Entity, why?" Diaspro showed him what was typed on the card's surface.

'Warning: Your recent actions have placed you on the MLE Watch List.'

"Huh, I didn't know there was a watch list for that."

* * *

Smaug rose, fierce and terrible above the unending sea of treasure. His wings beat against the air, sending gusts hard enough to knock people over, His jaw opened, ready to spew fire upon his tiny opponents.

Diaspro rolled her eyes, summoned a shard of crystal twice her normal height, and sent it hurtling, with unerring accuracy, through the gap in the dragon's scales.

Smaug's body dropped to the ground in an instant, shaking the cavern, which in no way bothered Diaspro as she flew over the treasure, applying liberal amounts of Fairy Dust to fix the ambient curses.

Thorin nodded approvingly. "Well done, now Bilbo just needs to drop off that accursed ring, and we can start renovating the mountain."

Diaspro grinned at Bilbo, slipping on her Zoomix wings.

"All aboard the Fairy Express."

* * *

 **Loop 42**

* * *

Diaspro shrieked as she lunged for Bloom, a shard of her magic in hand. The gemlike construct sunk deep, cracking as it hit bone.

The two girls hit the ground, Diaspro's grip unsteady on the suddenly slippery shard.

Bloom coughed, a wet, sticky sound, her eyes wide as she stared up at Diaspro in shock.

Diaspro looked down at her hands, unable to breathe as she caught sight of the liquid spilling out around the embedded crystal.

Bloom choked as blood began filling her lungs.

"No, no, I didn't mean..." Diaspro let go of her make shift weapon, struggling to make sense of the blood on her hands, on her dress, on Bloom. "Bloom?"

Bloom didn't move, didn't breathe.

"No, nonononononononono..." black spots covered Diaspro's vision, her hearing was assaulted by the sound of blood rushing in her ears. She opened her mouth and-

* * *

 **Loop 43**

Fused Loop – Twilight

* * *

\- screamed at the top of her lungs.

Charlie swerved as his daughter started screaming, apropos of nothing.

"Honey? What's going on?"

His baby girl started scrabbling at her hands like she was trying to get some invisible substance off of them. He pulled the car over.

"Bells? Bells! What is it, what's wrong?!" She continued to scream, he kept trying to get an answer but for an hour she did nothing but scream. Only once she'd screamed herself hoarse did she subside into whimpers, but by that point she'd started leaving scratches on her hands and wrists deep enough to draw blood, which in turn made her moan and mutter unintelligibly.

Charlie sighed to himself, grabbed his radio and stepped out of the car. He'd been afraid that something like this might happen one day, but Bella had always seemed so much steadier then her mother, he'd hoped it would never happen.

* * *

"And there's history of mental illness in her mothers family for...?"

"Bella would be the fourth generation, but it's never been anything like this before."

"Do you know what triggered her episode?"

"No, we were just driving, and out of nowhere she started screaming and doing that thing with her hands."

"How long ago was that?"

"Two days, I got the first appointment here I could, she's been screaming, whimpering or sleeping the whole time since."

"Has she been sleeping restfully?"

"No, she keeps twitching, like she's having bad dreams."

The Doctor paused to write something down.

"Well, the best thing is to keep her here under observation for 72 hours, after that we can reassess her case and figure out where to go from there."

* * *

Two months later

* * *

Becky brushed a lock of brown hair out of her face, the colour was different to yesterday, she'd had to re-dye it, her roots had been showing and the colour had been getting too faded. To much time in chlorine water.

Parking her cart by the open doorway of room 204, she knocked quietly.

"Bella? Hey, it's time for your medication." The blonde girl didn't look up, didn't acknowledge her as she enter, meds and water in hand. With trained movements Becky helped the girl take her medication, speaking softly as she worked.

"I spoke with the Doctor, he said I could put up that picture I was telling you about, what do you think: on the wall across from your bed so you can see it easily?" Becky examined the younger girl's hands. "Mmmm, your nails are getting a bit long again, time for a manicure I think. So how about, once I finish my med' rounds, I come back here and I'll trim your nails, then you can head off to the common room, and when you come back, I should have the picture up. Sound good?"

Bella didn't respond, but Becky wasn't really expecting her to. The girl was, in laymen's terms: a grade A vegetable, with a side order of fruitcake.

"Okay, that's the plan, I'll be back soon."

Becky sighed and resumed her rounds. As far as patients went, Bella was one of her favourites, despite being, in effect, living furniture. Her other patients were rowdier, some of them triggering as a result of other patients getting rowdy. Bella only seemed to be triggered by a few things: red liquids, gingers and red heads (the reason Becky had taken to dying her hair brown), and, more oddly, fairies and crystals, but only the pointy kind.

Well, at least Bella would let Becky talk on end about her dreams of becoming a professional photographer.

* * *

 **Loop 44**

* * *

"We're sorry my lord, we truly don't know what happened, her maids found her like this."

Peering through the door, the Duke was able to make his only daughter out in the early morning light. She was pressed into a corner, muttering to herself, unkempt and distressed. He thought, though he wasn't sure, that she may have pulled some of her hair out. Without warning Diaspro began rocking, the volume of her muttering increased as she began scrubbing violently with her hands.

"Fetch a healer, and keep this quiet."

* * *

 **Loop unknown (Pre-enlightenment)**

* * *

Diaspro was in a bland, quiet room. A small peeping noise broke into her fugue, slowly she turned her head. A tiny blue wren was perch on the window sill, having slipped through the small gap between the sill and the open wind.

She tried to wrap her mind around it, this tiny, blue, peeping thing. With aching, heavy, clumsy limbs she stood, and stumbled closer to it. Her shaky hand reached out and the wren jumped across onto it.

Diaspro pulled it closer to her face, to her eyes, tracing the ruffle of the feathers.

Something sparked in her brain, deep, deep beneath the heavy fog.

"Princess Diaspro?" The voice from the door was disbelieving, she turned to it. A young man in healers garments stood, gaping at her. "Princess Diaspro, do you know where you are?"

Did she know? No, she didn't. The wren peeped curiously at her, drawing her attention back to it.

"How did that get in, I'm sorry Princess, is it disturbing you?"

Diaspro opened her mouth, trying to say no, it wasn't disturbing her, but all that came out was a raspy noise. She shook her head and held the wren closer to her body.

* * *

Sun shone down on her, birds sang, grass whispered in the breeze.

They told her she'd been unwell, for a very long time. Diaspro got the feeling it was longer than they thought, wondered how many times her curse had caused time to reset itself while she was... 'unwell.'


	4. Chapter 4

**Loop 123**

* * *

Diaspro was nervous as she strode into the Alfea courtyard. She'd taken a few dozen loops to herself, away from the Winx Club, gotten herself a few hobbies, taken some seminars and self help courses, made quite a lot of jewellery with her new dwarven skills.

She wasn't the same person she'd been, she wasn't the same wretched fairy who'd killed Bloom over a boy.

Diaspro never wanted to be that girl again.

She'd waited until a loop where she'd felt all the Winx Club let out pings, stalling yes, but she really only wanted to do this once, so...

Flora spotted her first, looking startled, the other girls turned, to see what had alarmed their friend.

Stuffing her sudden bout of anxiety as far down as she could, Diaspro waved. The entire group looked shocked. Diaspro stopped, taking in the appearance of Aisha and Roxy with the girls, recognition on all seven faces, along side confusion.

"Diaspro?" Bloom stepped forward, a deep frown marring her face.

"Hi Bloom, ummm... can we talk?" Suspicion chased the confusion from Bloom's face, but the red-head nodded, and didn't move. Diaspro took a deep breath, understanding the unspoken, 'what ever it is, you can say it in front of all of us.'

She pulled the letter she'd written decades ago from her the pocket of her worn jeans, the comfortable pair she'd picked up on Earth (in a Hub loop) forty-eight years ago now.

Unfolding the paper, she cleared her throat and began to read.

"Bloom, you and I have a shared history of anger, and occasional violence. I realise now, that my actions were antagonistic and beyond inappropriate, but I would like to ask you to recognise that I was not the only one to blame. What happened between us was not truly our fault to begin with, but we made the decision to make it worse. _I_ made the decision to let it consume my life.

"I want to apologise for the things I've done and said; since the last time we've 'truly' spoken, I've gone through a lot of changes. I've accepted that my feelings were unhealthy, and my love for Sky was toxic, I'm making steps to move on and move forward, and I would like your forgiveness as part of this transition.

"I understand that you were not to blame for what happened, but I felt a lot of anger about it, and blamed you for a long time. I want you to know that I have realised my mistake, and I have forgiven you for what happened. I hope you can find it to do the same for me.

"I'malsoreallysupersorryIwentcompletelyinsaneduringmyisolationandkilledyouthatonetime."

"Did you just say you killed me?"

"Once..."

"Was this before or after you joined our group and cried, like, three giant jars of crystal tears?" Flora stepped in to ask.

"Uhhh... about a century in the sanatorium and five suicides before."

"Wait," Stella snapped her fingers in a 'I've got it' motion. "When you say suicide, did you ever throw yourself off of your own balcony into the courtyard below, just after the Day of the Royals?"

"Yes, that was the first one actually."

"Oh my gosh," Bloom fluttered her hands excitedly, "I told you that wasn't normal Diaspro behaviour! That was a bad loop, Sky was a legitimate sociopath, and Eraklyon started a civil war because of him."

"NO!" Diaspro could feel herself starting to tear up, she really had become such a crier since she'd gotten back from being crazy.

"Also where did you get the idea for that letter?"

"I took some self help courses," Diaspro tucked her letter, and her hands, into the pockets of her jeans, slouching a little.

"Here's a question," Aisha waved her hand, to call everyone's attention to her. "How is it, you've been looping, and we didn't know?"

"Oh, well, I did spend a lot of time away from you all, these last few I've been deliberately avoiding everyone, and there was a long time where I was in a sanatorium, and Bloom just said one of my loops that coincided with everyone else's was the one I killed myself in, and maybe it's just been a really long run of coincidences?" Diaspro didn't sound very sure herself.

"So how did you figure out what was going on with the loops if this is the first time you've met up with another looper?" Musa crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"After the loop Flora mentioned- hey! You were awake for that?"

"Yes! I'm so sorry, I kept meaning to talk to you but it was either a bad time, or I just wasn't thinking about it. It was a baseline-derivative loop, I was curious to see what your addition to the group did to the story line."

"Oh, well, I suppose I forgive you, I mean, there was me thinking I was cursed or in hell, until I suddenly appear in front of this green door with a Hobbit asking me if I'm 'loopy,' I thought he meant crazy at the time and, well, actual sanatorium time... _anyway_ , Mr Bilbo explained everything to me. I was a Dwarf in that Loop, I got some really nice training in lapidary and smithing."

"GIRLS! Don't loiter in the courtyard! We have a dance to prepare for!"

"Yes Griselda!" The eight girls called to their teacher.

"So to the dorms maybe?" Roxy suggested, the group nodded and began making their way into the building.

"Diaspro," Bloom fell in beside the blonde as they walked. "I'm so ready to move past this Sky based fighting if you are, like so ready you have no idea. But at the same time, I'm upset that you killed a version of me, so I might still be a bit weird about this." Bloom waved her hand back and forth between them, to indicate their relationship status.

"I understand, honestly I would have understood if you never forgave me at all."

"Well, I'm thousands of loops old, you're what, barely into triple digits? I've become benevolent in my old age child." A quirk of her lips let Diaspro know she was joking.

* * *

 **Loop 150**

 **Fusion CCS**

* * *

Diaspro stared at the dark haired young man over the breakfast table, he stared back and sipped his drink. When she finished her breakfast he all but hurried her out the door, away from 'their' father.

"So, looper, what's your story?" The young man asked, swinging one leg over his bike. Diaspro strapped on a pair of roller blades before answering.

"Diaspro, fairy, Winx Club loop. What's the local story?"

"I'm Touya, local anchor, you are playing my younger sister, who is about to find and release some ancient magical cards. You'll have to collect them, fight 'The Judge' in order to be allowed to keep them, then change them so they use your own power, not the remnant power of their creator. The loop is generally only a few years long."

"So what do you do for fun?"

"Make out with my boyfriend, tease my sister. I did release and collect the cards myself once, still have the Touya Cards in my Pocket. Sometimes we use the cards to create giant monsters to fight, just because we can. YUKI!"

A silver haired boy, the same age as Touya waved from the upcoming corner.

* * *

 **Baseline-ish loop (Loop number unkown)**

* * *

Diaspro stood in the doorway of the ship as the soldiers fired on the monsters below, through the dark rain and army of decay bugs, she could make out Sky, fighting back to back with Brandon. All around the school, the situation seemed more and more dire, students and teachers alike cried out in pain as they were struck down.

From the cup in her hand, a loud slurping noise issued forth as Diaspro's milkshake at last ran dry. With a quiet humph, she grabbed the straw, turning it to lick the last of the ice cream from the end before setting the cup and straw down.

"Better get to it I suppose," she took a step out of the vehicle and fell, transforming as she went. Rising back into the air, she gather her energy and flung it wide. "AMBER REIGN!" Every creature it encountered was encased in a thick layer of amber, the larger monsters scattered as the amber divided them back into their weaker, base insect forms.

Silence descended over the area.

Everyone waited with bated breath.

"So, if you boys are done here, I'm going to go check on Alfea. 'Kay, bye!" Diaspro teleported out.

And reappeared on Earth, in an ice cream store.

"Hey, can I grab another milkshake please." Her periods gave her the worst 'sweet' and 'dairy' cravings.

* * *

 **Enlightenment Loop**

 **Diaspro Vs Dark!Bloom**

* * *

Had this happened before? Diaspro didn't know, but she had to stop it.

The two sides began fighting, Diaspro somehow managed to dodge all of Bloom's dark attacks, closing the gap between them. She readied an attack- _Bloom was looking up at her, confusion and surprise etched on her face, Diaspro's hands slipped in the blood, a shard wedged deep in Bloom's chest_ \- she faltered. The Fairy of Gemlight didn't feel Bloom's attack hit, but she did feel the pillar as her back hit, her spine stretching out and around the curve. Her feet and her head hit at roughly the same time before she fell to the ground in a heap, her hearing muffled, eyes unable to focus.

She couldn't, she couldn't – she _had_ _to_.

Diaspro wobbled to her hands and knees, wings not responding the way they should have. Shaking, she used the pillar to pull herself up, eyes casting around, trying to make sense of the battle.

Her gaze caught on Brandon, struggling to his knees, turned away from Bloom, who was preparing a bolt of white hot fire in her hand.

Brandon had always been good to her, diplomatic, if not truly friendly. She'd like him well enough, Stella loved him.

'Bloom would never forgive herself.'

Diaspro wasn't sure who she was trying to save, but she forced herself to move, slamming Brandon out of the way just in time.

Just in time to take the hit for him.

Brandon rolled with the blow, coming to a stop metres away.

Diaspro skidded, toppling from the edge of the platform to the void below, Bloom's mad laughter in her ears.

Something surged through her as she fell, something **bigger** and _more_ than the Charmix, something beyond words and feeling, something that _was_.

Every cell in her body felt energised, shiny and new, her wings unfurled behind her, bigger and bolder than before. Stronger. Around her neck, her power pulsed like a heart beat, she reached for it, a bottle coming away in her hand. She pulled the stopper, and flung the contents high overhead, reversing her descent and rising through the dust to rejoin the battle.

It did not look good, Bloom held Sky in a fiery grip, her powers pressing down on him. Ignoring Darkar and the others, Diaspro flew straight at Bloom, Fairy Dust at the ready.

Beneath the onslaught of purifying magic, the darkness in Bloom evaporated in a moment.

Darkar fell not long after.

* * *

 **Fusion Loop FFVII – CC**

* * *

Diaspro awakened in a kitchen, in a rustic looking house. She turned, observing the furnishings, her dress and apron, and the cold, some what desolate mountain side outside the window.

'Where the heck?' She felt a Ping go off, she sent one back. A second unidentified Ping followed a second later, as did the clatter of small feet down the stairs.

The boy who emerged couldn't have been older than twelve, he stopped short at the sight of her, blonde hair in gravity defying disarray and bright blue eyes which stared at her, alarmed and confused. Diaspro stood awkwardly, awaiting his judgement.

"Well... you're not my usual mother."

"Moth-" Diaspro's loop memories hit her all at once, one in particular standing out. "OH! Wow... birth is a messy and terrifying procedure."

"So I've heard... and seen, I occasionally grow up to be a doctor. Hi I'm Nibel, I prefer Cloud."

Diaspro's brow twitched in confusion – 'Cloud' was an odd name choice – before the relevant memory came to mind and she realised it was the 'Common Tongue' translation of his name.

"Diaspro, I'm from the Winx Club Loop, I don't know if you've heard of it."

"Can't say I have, what's it like over there?"

"Fairies, witches, magical battles for the fate of the universe. What's the story here?"

"Alien parasite-virus Hel-bent on destroying the world and riding it around the cosmos like a rocket ship, evil corporation literally sucking the life out of the Planet for fuel, Elite augmented SOLDIERs who tend to end up unstable and wanting to eradicate large swaths of life... also lots of killable monsters... we're a 'Game' universe in the Hub Loops."

"Oh... mine's a cartoon... so are you the Anchor?"

Cloud pulled a face and shrugged.

"Kind of? See the Loop we're in right now is part of a much larger branch called 'Final Fantasy' this Loop is number Seven, the 'Lifestream loop,' and it actually has two reset points. I mentioned we're a 'Game' Loop?" Diaspro nodded, "well there's the 'Original Game' which is the Loop variant I'm the Anchor for, it was the primary time frame for our loop; and then there's the 'Prequel,' 'Crisis Core,' which is the reset point we're at now, and my bro Zack is the Anchor for that. It was actually salvaged later, so even though it comes first it's still second, and they had to re-anchor or something, so there's two of us."

The duo stood there awkwardly for a while.

"So..." Diaspro twisted her apron in her hands, "you mentioned killable monsters?"

"Yeah... did you want to fight some after breakfast?"

"Yes please."

* * *

Diaspro sunk her blade into a monster, she had no idea what it was, though she was certain Cloud had told her at some point. They'd been travelling upwards to the mountains summit, Cloud told her the evil alien parasite-virus was sleeping at the top.

He had a list, he'd said, of things he liked to get out of the way when he woke for a Crisis Core Loop. Top three were killing Jenova (the evil alien parasite-virus), waking up someone named Vincent (and she should feel free to make as many vampire jokes as she wanted), and burning down an old mansion.

"Damnit!"

"What's wrong?" Diaspro made her way to the (not as young as he looked) boy's side, before them was a vast expanse, a factory of some kind on the far peak.

"Bridge is out," he grumbled.

"Lovix," Diaspro let the transformation wash over her, squashing a tiny smudge of irritation. 'Seriously, you join the 'main cast' and you get all the useful and cool transformations, how is that fair? It's like 'being a Winx' is a prerequisite for levelling up.'

Ignoring Cloud's surprised look, she picked him up and cradled him to her chest as she flew across the gap.

Setting him down on the far side she huffed.

"What?"

"That is cool, and I want one," he said appraising her form. "So is Lovix like a spell or the form or what?"

"It's the name of this form, we tend to use the name of the transformation as an incantation to focus, but it's really not needed. It's mostly just a 'battle cry' thing."

Nodding his head in understanding, Cloud led the way into the building. There were tubes filled with glowing green liquid – Mako, he'd called it, the literal blood of the planet – with creatures floating inside. At the top of some stairs was a room, the word 'JENOVA' hung on a plaque over the doors.

"Oh that is heinous!" Diaspro exclaimed when she saw the thing inside the tube at the end of the room.

"Not for long," Cloud countered, pulling explosives out of his Pocket.

"What are you doing with those?"

"I'm going to blow up Jenova," he gave her a look like it should have been obvious.

"I am your mother young man, and I'm not about to let you play with explosives until you're older," Diaspro propped her hands on her hips and gave her best 'stern mother' face.

"Are... are you serious right now?" Cloud looked more and more confused. Diaspro held her pose a few seconds longer, before letting it go with a scoff.

"Nooo, I just wanted to see what Fairy Dust does to an evil alien parasite-virus thingy. Enchantix," her body glowed as her form changed. She plucked the Fairy Dust bottle from her neck and, with a quick flick of her wrist, sheered the top of the container off without disturbing the contents. Cloud watched as an impossible amount of glittery dust poured from the tiny bottle, with the senses given to him billions (trillions?) of loops before, he felt the flicker and pop of Jenova's alarm before she died.

The part of him that was Cetra – and hadn't that been an annoying loop – heard Gaia breathe a sigh of relief, as the 'dust' spread through the Mako, destroying any and all trace of Jenova it found.

"I. Want. One." Cloud told his stand-in-mother.

"Visit our loop as a fairy and make it to Enchantix level," Diaspro flipped her hair over her shoulder with a trace of smugness. "Now, you said something about setting a mansion on fire and a vampire friend?"

"Yeah, but you realise I have to blow the reactor anyway right, it's syphoning actual, literal 'Spirit of the Planet' Blood, without which the whole world dies."  
Diaspro pouted, then grinned, magic flowing from her finger tips.

"I give you: Tecna's eco-friendly power station make over!"

"...Why is it pink?"

* * *

It had taken almost a year of whining by phone before Cloud gave into his co-anchor's request to join him at ShinRa. Diaspro, tired of the town's views and pettiness, locked up the house behind them. Using her pre-existing reputation as the town witch, Diaspro told the town that any who tried to break in, would end up cursed in the worst possible manner.

Using her actual fairy powers and her extensive magical knowledge, she placed protective spells and a few actual curses on the house, just in case.

The pair took the long way around, stopping by several more reactors for Diaspro to change ("But do they _have_ to be _pink_?"). She enjoyed the opportunity to photograph new scenery, new creatures, new faces.

The less said about Diaspro's first attempts at riding a Chocobo, the better.

* * *

To Cloud's dismay, Diaspro and Zack adored each other, and co-created Metal Chocobo, a fan club dedicated to Cloud. It wasn't the first time Zack had made Cloud a fan club - "It's good for your self-esteem!" - but it was the first time someone else was as enthusiastic about the club as Zack.

* * *

The "This is not the Epic Battle Chapter you were looking for" chapter. (For everything else: There's Fairy Dust)

 **AS OF EARLY APRIL 2017 LAPIDARY HAS BEEN MADE CANON IN THE INFINITE LOOPS UNIVERSE, SEVERAL CHANGES WERE MADE TO PRE-EXISTING LAPIDARY SNIPPETS TO COMPLY WITH THE INFI-LOOPS CANON.**

 **FOR THE UPDATED SNIPS, AS WELL AS NEW SNIPS, PLEASE GO TO "WINX CLUB INFINITE LOOPS" AS POSTED BY FIREHAWK242.**

 **THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED, FAV'D OR FOLLOWED. (Lapidary begins on 'page' 31 of Winx Club Infinite Loops, as marked in the chapters list.)**


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